Kunochis Don't Cry
by emes
Summary: Although it was a sunny, cloudless day, for the rest of her life Sakura would remember rain pouring from the sky and onto her cheeks. Kunoichis don’t cry. KakaSaku.


**Kunoichis Don't Cry**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto :( 

24-year old Sakura sat in the silence of the Hokage's office for what seemed like hours. Sasuke was in the chair beside her, and Naruto sat in his rightful place behind the Hokage's desk.

"Did he—" Naruto cleared his throat. "Did he say anything?"

Sakura shut her eyes tight and turned her head to the side. The memory of that night with Kakashi was not one she wanted to relive.

"Leave her alone, dobe. She obviously doesn't want to talk about it," Sasuke butted in.

"Sasuke-teme! I'm the Hokage, not you!" Naruto petulantly cried. "I need to know how she got the scroll!"

"Maybe she doesn't know how they got the scroll. Ever think of that, dobe? Maybe _he_ got it, not her."

"Don't call me that, teme!" Naruto yelled, pointing in Sasuke's face. "Just because—"

"There was an ambush," Sakura interrupted. "We only got the scroll through luck and skill; the former being mine, the latter, his."

"Sakura-chan, what… What happened?" Naruto asked softly.

And then Sakura cracked. All of the time Sakura took to forget what happened was for nothing. She was there again, in her mind, with him.

With Kakashi. 

_Breathing heavily, Sakura looked around her. Bodies of enemy ninjas surrounded her._

"_Not bad, huh, Hatake?" she asked. She didn't hear a reply, nor did she see him. "Kakashi?" she called, slightly louder._

"_S-Sakura," she heard. It was barely a whisper, but she knew it was him. Sakura whirled around to find Kakashi slumped against a tree 30 feet away._

"_Kakashi!" she shouted, rushing to him. What she saw made her want to cry, but kunoichis don't cry. Blood was everywhere—cuts on his face and arms, a wide gash in his stomach._

_Sakura immediately put pressure on the worst of his wounds, on his abdomen, letting her chakra pour out from her fingertips and into the body of the injured ninja._

"_Stay with me, Kakashi," she said, "Stay with me."_

_Kakashi gasped out, "I—I wish we…" Got married; settled down; had kids; grew old together._

"_No! No 'I wish!' No regrets, Kakashi, no regrets!" she said fiercely. _

_Kakashi grabbed her hand. It was slippery, whether from his blood or hers, he couldn't tell. _

"_Tell Naruto I'm proud, Sakura. Tell him he's the best damn—" Kakashi coughed up blood. "The best damn Hokage Konoha has ever seen."_

"_Don't say your goodbyes, Kakashi! Not yet!"_

_Kakashi only shook his head, hissing in pain at the movement. _

"_And tell Sasuke," he continued, "'And then there was one.'"_

"_Kakashi, what—"_

"_Just tell him."_

"_Ok," she said. "Ok, I will."_

"_Sakura," he gasped as his breath became labored, "don't forget me."_

_Sakura let out an audible sob. "I couldn't even if I tried."_

"_I love you," the man admitted._

"_I know," came Sakura's reply. She saw no need in wasting time telling him what he already knew._

_As Kakashi's grip loosened on her hand, Sakura leaned in and kissed him until he no longer kissed back. He tasted like iron._

"_Kakashi!" Sakura cried. "Kakashi!" She sat, rocking back and forth, cradling his head in her lap and repeating his name at least a dozen times without response. The famed Copy Ninja was dead._

"_Oh, Kakashi," she whispered to herself. As she went to close his eyes, her hand lingered over the Sharingan. _

"_No, I couldn't," she said aloud. "It was Obito's to give."_

_With that thought, Sakura did the only thing she could think of to do at the time: she slipped the black mask from around the Jounin's face and placed it around her own. The cloth felt warm against her lips._

"_Goodbye, Kakashi," she whispered, before picking up and returning, scroll in hand, to Konoha. Although it was a sunny, cloudless day, for the rest of her life Sakura would remember rain pouring from the sky and onto her cheeks._

_Kunoichis don't cry._

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto repeated.

"Ambush," the pink-haired woman replied. "Ambush. They knew we were coming."

"Sakura, I'm so sorry," the blonde said. "I never expected this to happen when I sent you out…"

"Yeah, well, neither did he," she snapped. "It's just… we knew the odds of survival. We just assumed that what happened to one of us would happen to the other… That we were in this together."

At a loss for words, all Naruto or Sasuke could say was, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Sakura looked up. "He's proud of you, you know."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"He's proud you became Hokage. Best Hokage to date, I believe he said."

"He… He is?"

Sakura nodded. "He asked me to tell you. And Sasuke, he told me to tell you, 'And then there was one,' although I don't know what that means."

"The Sharingan," Sasuke said. "I killed Itachi, and now that Kakashi… It's just me."

Silence once again filled the room until Sasuke shot up in alarm.

"Sakura! Did you get rid of the eye? Kakashi's Sharingan?"

"Of course. Kakashi mentioned what to do, but only once. It was something that he thought I would never have to know how to do."

Not wanting Sakura to dwell on the subject too much longer, Naruto said, "Sakura, I know you're supposed to meet your Genin team today, but—"

"Don't you dare give me more time off, Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"But Sakura-chan," he whined, "it's only been a week since your return!"

"A week is plenty, Hokage-sama," she goaded. "Besides, it's what he would have done should the positions be reversed."

"I think you underestimate his feelings for you," Sasuke spoke monotonously.

Naruto banged his open palm on the desk. Upon seeing Sakura's determination, he had made up his mind. "Your team is at the Academy. It is now 2:50. Meet them at 3."

Sakura nodded and headed for the door, only to be stopped by Sasuke.

"Sakura… If you need anything…"

"Teme!" Naruto whined. "That was my line!"

"Thank you," Sakura whispered to both of them as she left the office, her face hidden behind Kakashi's mask. The sounds of her former-teammates arguing grew dimmer until, finally, they were inaudible. 

Walking through Konoha made Sakura realize where she needed to be. As she sat beside the monument as she had seen Kakashi do numerous times before, she felt oddly at peace. Like Kakashi, she knew she would be visiting it frequently. As 3 o'clock became 4, Sakura stood and prepared to head to the Academy. She kissed her fingertips and pressed them firmly into the freshly-carved letters spelling out 'Hatake Kakashi.' Then, without looking back, she turned and left. 

Standing outside the Academy door, Sakura didn't know what to expect. Her team should be waiting inside. If they were anything like her team… Sakura nudged the door open with her foot, and sure enough, an eraser fell to the floor, narrowly missing her toes.

"Aww!" she heard a young boy yell as she stepped through the door.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," she explained, "your sensei. Any questions?"

Three young children stared back until finally, the one who had planted the eraser spoke.

"Why are you so late?"

Sakura smiled and as she did she felt her lips brush against the cloth of the mask covering her face—Kakashi's mask. And as she thought of an explanation to the Genin's question, she realized that while her excuse was unoriginal, it was fitting. As the young boy received his answer, all he could see was the upper half of Sakura's face and her two over-turned, crescent moon eyes.

"I got lost on the road of life."

The End. 

Review, please!


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